Nationwide Building Society has issued an important update regarding savings accounts. The provider offers a range of accounts, including easy access and fixed rate accounts, as well as cash ISAs.

Stephen Noakes, director of retail at Nationwide, recently spoke to MPs on the Treasury Committee about its work to help people build up their savings. He pointed to the worrying fact that many people have little savings built up to tide them over through difficult times.

He spoke about some research Nationwide collaborated on, which showed people who can achieve £2,000 in savings are 60 percent less likely to struggle to pay their bills. The director said: “Even a small buffer makes a big difference to their resilience.

“It is critical to start developing that savings behaviour. In the steps to saving, which the research also talked about, that is a pathway to potentially getting into home ownership and beyond. It is absolutely important that we do that.”

Mr Noakes was asked how important this savings buffer when the building society considers whether to grant a loan to someone, such as a mortgage. He said: “Savings will typically give you a sense of the level of deposit that a customer is able to make.

“If, essentially, they are able to clear savings on a monthly basis, that gives a sense of the affordability to the loan as well. Those are the steps to saving.”

But he emphasised his key point that people generally just don’t have enough saved up for a rainy day. Mr Noakes urged: “I shall go back to the start, which is the number of households today that are nowhere near £2,000 or even the £200.

“This is where the broader initiative comes in with national savings week and the commitment to get two million customers who currently are not saving to start that savings habit by 2030. That is a Building Societies Association target, and we fully support and embrace it.”

UK Savings Week is set for September 21 to September 27 this year, an initiative to encourage people to take up a regular habit of building their savings. If you plan to make regular deposits, you can get a relatively high 6.5 percent rate with Nationwide’s Regular Saver.

You can deposit up to £200 each month into the account over a 12-month term. The interest rate is variable. Several providers offer regular saver accounts, with high interest rates but you can only pay in up to a certain amount each month.

The top rate is currently with Principality Building Society, which pays 7.5 percent fixed for six months. You can pay in up to £200 a month into the account. Consumer expert Martin Lewis recently cleared up a misunderstanding about how regular saver accounts work.